Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau
Minster of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, yesterday, disclosed that severe punishment awaits any university management that invests universities intervention funds to earn interest.
He gave the warning in Abuja, at a one-day sensitization retreat on the implementation of National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) assessment intervention in Nigerian public universities.
Speaking, the Minster said, “This retreat is about the NEEDS assessment funds. You will all recall that sometime last year, the government agreed to released 1.3trillion to address all the most basic problem of our universities especially in the area of infrastructure staff development and training
“We thought we should bring all the Vice Chancellors (VCs) and all their management staff concern with management of fund to inject into their heads that this money coming must be prudently utilize and there is implementation monitoring committee put in place chair by my humble self will be monitoring every naira and kobo release to universities.
“We will make sure that due process is complied with we will not spare any head of any institutions that violate the rule and regulation guiding the expenditure of this funds.
“Distinguished participants, please permit me to sound a note of warning. On no account should universities invest the intervention funds to earn interest. There must be no delay in meeting financial obligations to contactors, vendors, suppliers and staff undergoing training.
“All beneficiaries are required to maintain a single dedicated bank account to which funds released by IMC are lodged, and from which the universities settle their contractual obligations. The intervention funds cannot be paid into any other account. Any change of account must receive the prior approval of IMC.”
He added that; “The quest to realize our desired national goals calls for collective responsibility, co-operation and commitment of all stake-holders. Councils must ensure that the products of our universities are equipped with necessary and relevant skills and competencies to fit in the labour market, and ensure an all-round development of the nation.
“With the quantity of funds injected into the tertiary education sub-sector this year, the Federal Government expects a reasonable infrastructural transformation of our Universities in the next few years.”
Continuing, Shekarau said the report submitted by the Committee on Needs Assessment of Nigerian Public Universities in 2012 shows that physical facilities for teaching and learning such as classrooms/lecture theatres, laboratories, workshops/studios and libraries were inadequate, dilapidated, overcrowded and improvised.
It also shows that hostel accommodation had rapidly deteriorated due to intense pressure on existing facilities, resulting in overcrowded rooms and overstretched lavatories and poor sanitation. Municipal facilities such as campus roads, water, electricity, medical facilities are no better.
Furthermore, many of the Universities had a litany of abandoned projects while learning/research resources were unavailable, insufficient or out-dated.
The report also revealed that the Universities were grossly understaffed even as many of the staff available require capacity building or re-training.
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